


Nightfall

by griffxtrn



Category: The Tunnel (TV)
Genre: Contains spoilers for The Tunnel Season 2, Conversation, F/M, Intimacy, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8316490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffxtrn/pseuds/griffxtrn
Summary: Lieutenant Louise Renard talks to "BB" (Boleslaw Borowoski) after the hostage situation that occurred at the police station (s2 episode 4).





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a fic about Louise and BB's relationship, especially since we rarely get to see them together on-screen, even when they are at work. I also wanted to explore each of their reactions to the hostage situation involving Rosa Persaud and Thibaut Briand. As usual, mentions of other characters occur here, including: Olivier Pujol, "Snuff Man", Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann.
> 
> There's also a bit of French at the beginning since Philippe Viot is speaking to Louise in their native language. Feel free to comment any corrections or criticisms.
> 
> I wanted to end it on a positive note, in spite of the dark events that have taken place, so there is also a bit of intimacy at the end. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Lieutenant Louise Renard stood outside the Calais Police Station. It was late enough to be dark outside, but the building of her workplace was illuminated by the flashing lights of police cars and buzzing noises of helicopters.

She crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders, freezing in her boots as her colleague Philippe Viot strolled up to her from one of the vans that sat outside.

 _“C’est fini,”_ he said, with his hands in his pockets. // “It’s over.”

 _“Ça va Elise?”_ // “How is Elise?”

 _“Elle s'est blessé à la tête mais elle vas bien.”_ // “She hurt her head but she’ll be fine.”

 _“Merde. Et les tireurs?”_ // “Shit. And the shooters?”

 _“Les policiers qui arrivent, ils ont abbatu Thibaut Briand, il est mort. Mais ils ont réussi à capturer Rosa Persaud vivant avec quelques blessures.”_ // “The incoming police shot down Thibaut Briand, he’s dead, but they got Rosa Persaud alive with a few injuries.”

 _“Alors l’homme qui j’ai tiré, il était…”_ // “So the one I shot was…”

 _“Guillaume Briand, le frère de Thibaut.”_ // “Guillaume Briand, Thibaut’s brother.”

Louise nodded stiffly.

 _“Tu as sauvé des vies, Louise,”_ Philippe said, trying to comfort her. _“Ton copain BB, il sera très fier. Où est-il de toute façon?”_ // “You saved lives, Louise. Your boyfriend BB will be very proud. Where is he anyway?”

Just that moment, Louise’s phone rang. Philippe glanced at the photo of BB grinning on her screen and gave her a look, but began walking away to give her some privacy. 

_“Bonjour.”_

“Louise,” BB said on the other line. His voice was serious and anxious. “What happened? Are you alright? I just heard it on the radio—” 

“Everything’s fine.” 

“Were you in the building?” 

“I was, but I didn’t get hurt.” 

“Fuck,” he whispered, as if she had said the opposite. “I’m on my way.” 

“Try not to speed,” Louise said, half-joking. “We don’t want to cause any more trouble today.” 

BB’s humour already came back, although he still sounded slightly tense. “What’s the french version for ‘try not to speed’, anyway? _Dépêche-toi_ , isn’t it?” 

Louise laughed. She said good-bye and hung up her phone. 

* * *

Louise was sitting at the breakfast table of her lodging that very evening, after BB had driven her home. Her flat was a fair size, only because she shared the space with an old college friend. The woman was working a late shift that night, which allowed Louise to invite BB inside for a short talk while she calmed down from the events of the night. 

BB brought the full coffee pot over and poured some for her, and then for himself, adding a bit of milk to his own. He sat down. The outpour of rain fell onto the windows which were at the other end of the room. 

“You want to talk about what happened?” he asked, sipping some of his drink. 

Louise smiled. “I can tell you’ve been really wanting to ask me.” 

“No,” he said quickly. “You really don’t have to tell me. We can just sit here.” He gave her a stare with his intense eyes that made Louise laugh. 

He turned suddenly serious again, as if the flick of a switch had occurred in his mind. “Are you really alright, Louise?” 

She waved him off, leaning forward. “Alright, I’ll tell you.” She jumped straight into the story to take his mind off of her mental state, but the truth was, Louise was in a bit of shock and needed to talk it out a bit. “I was in the bathroom at the time. My gun and holster were in the cupboard of my desk.” 

“No!” BB exclaimed, surprised. He was the perfect audience for her story. 

“I heard gunshots outside. And yelling.” She shook her head. “I wanted to go out but I was weaponless. So I stood on a toilet seat, climbed up into the ceiling, one of the tiles was very loose and I could fit right in. I crawled along the space and kicked the tile down when I got to the main office. There was no one there—the terrorists were still in the hallway. So I jumped down, then I got my gun from under my desk. Went back around to follow where they were taking the hostages. The man—Thibaut’s brother, he was about to shoot three people. As soon as I got the chance, I fired my gun at him before he killed anyone else.” 

“Bravo,” BB said.

Louise nodded proudly. “I told the hostages to go outside and I followed them out.” 

“Who would’ve thought you had it in you,” BB joked. 

Louise rolled her eyes and sipped her drink. BB had attempted to make her some food but she really wasn’t feeling well—she felt as if she didn’t want to eat anything for the rest of the night. Perhaps her loss of appetite was what had made him even more concerned for her well-being. 

“Seriously,” BB said. “You did really well. Très bien.” He winked; he knew she liked it when he spoke a bit of French—not simply for comprehension but she also found it fun to watch him learn the language. 

“Merci. I’m sure you would have done the same.” 

“Can’t quite fit into a ceiling tile myself, I think. I’ve gotten quite wide around the waist,” he said sarcastically. “I’d have probably just been a coward, honest. Stayed in the bathroom till it got quiet or something.” 

Louise saw him smiling—that eternal grin he had on his face could often make any nervousness she had go away. But all she did was stare at the table cloth in front of her. 

“I’m glad you were alright,” he continued. 

“Me too.” Louise looked up, remembering something. “And where were you, anyway?” 

BB sighed and leaned back in his seat. “I went over to see Vanessa Hamilton earlier. Asked her a few questions, didn’t get much progress until later, when I came back and phoned up Karl.” 

“And what did Karl say?” 

“You know the girl Olena, who fell out of her window? Well she said the woman who abducted her was smoking a small cigar. I told Karl on the phone about how Vanessa was smoking _cheroots_ , didn’t even know the connection till he pointed it out.” 

Louise processed the information, then shook her head. “Everything’s connected.” 

“In these cases, always, yeah.” 

They were silent for a while. 

Suddenly, Louise said: “Did Karl ever tell you about what happened last year?” 

BB looked only slightly surprised. He set his cup down. “No. Not fully. Though it was all over the news, and he mentioned it only once. I got the gist of it, really.” 

“I read about it too.” 

“Elise didn’t tell you?” He sounded a bit irritated to be uttering Elise’s name. 

“No. Elise keeps almost everything to herself,” Louise said simply. She couldn’t hide her amusement. “Are you still mad at her?” 

“I was never mad!” BB said, as if he was caught telling a lie. “I would’ve just preferred it if she didn’t treat me like I was a bloody machine, that’s all. I don’t even work for her.” 

“She treats everyone like that,” Louise said with a smile. 

__“Don’t know how you can stand it.”__

Louise leaned forward. “Promise me you won’t ever get involved with bad people,” she said quite bluntly. 

BB raised his eyebrows. “You mean like Karl did? That was just bad luck.” He saw the expression on her face and added, “Don’t worry, Louise, I’m a recluse myself.” 

She laughed loudly. “A recluse? You’re the most social person I’ve ever met.” 

“Alright, fine, I’m not a recluse but everyone I know is really nerdy and safe, don’t worry about me Louise.” 

Louise tilted her head, feeling tired. “Our line of work…” 

BB groaned, though he still had a smirk on his face. “Oh, don’t start.” 

“Don’t start what?” Louise asked, though she knew he was on the same page as her. 

“I know what you’re going to say. Things are dangerous for us as police. Yes, it’s true sometimes, like today unfortunately. But you know who we’re dealing with most of the time? Bloody druggies next door. _Snuff Man_ is one of Karl’s best mates!” 

Louise laughed, but he continued. “And anyway, Karl and Elise are both in relationships, so is your pal Olivier and he’s been working as long as he’s been married! It’s not impossible to make both things work.” 

Louise finished her coffee. The warmth of the drink had stopped her shivering, and now she felt a little less cold. 

“How will we…make this work?” she said again. 

“Louise, what’s gotten into you?” BB said in his laid-back voice. “Is it because of what happened tonight? Because that’s not something—” 

“No, I just... We’ve got the bad guys. You and Karl will be leaving again eventually.” 

BB paused. It did not seem like he had pondered the idea of the future of their relationship—how could he, given how drastic and intense things had been lately? Louise stared at him, and seeing his messy hair and lowered eyes, she realized that he appeared quite tired as well. 

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I could come back here occasionally. It really isn’t as bad of a trip to Calais as it is to other places. I’m lucky I found someone so close,” he said. 

Louise nodded, feeling slightly shy. 

“Plus, we’re staying here much longer than you’d expect. Things are messy on our side as well. Superintendent Bowden keeps giving Olivier quite the headache.” 

“I’ve noticed.” 

“It’ll settle down. There’s no rush. We’ll make it work, Louise. I promise. And besides,” he added, as he moved his chair back. He walked around the table to give her a kiss on the forehead. “Who else would I ever meet that would love my Polish nicknames? No one but you, little froggy.” 

Louise smiled, holding his hand. She stood up from her seat to give him a proper kiss, and a long embrace. 


End file.
